Acts 16:9-15; John 14:23-29

Lynne writes: “Sitting, waiting for another MRI before an oncology procedure, I am seeking the type of peace that only Jesus offers. I find it in those caring for me, art, prayer, coloring mandalas, harp music playing in the waiting area, and meditation – all human attempts to connect and ‘capture’ the peace that only comes from God.” [1]

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.

A Syrian family squats under a tarp on a rainy day in Turkey. No home. No where to turn.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.

It is the night of Jesus’ betrayal, the evening when he will be taken away to be executed. In this very moment Jesus says: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.

Let me attempt a paraphrase of what Jesus may be trying to tell the disciples at this point. I encourage you to do the same thing. This evening, in the quiet of your home, take these verses and let yourself become Jesus. What are you trying to tell your friends? What do they want to hear?

Jesus comforts his disciples by telling them that God is on the move. I am telling you this now so that you won’t despair. It will look bad. I am going away – honestly…, I am going to be killed. I don’t know how I will face that. It fills me with dread. And, yet, I know it is going to happen. But I refuse to be blinded by fear. And I don’t want you to lose sight of God through your grief and fear either. In all of this – betrayal, torture, death – it will look to the casual observer like God has deserted us and our way. But in what seems like absence you are not alone.

This is what I have been trying to tell you all long. The Kingdom of God is at hand. God’s very presence is as close at the tip of your fingers. No…, closer than that. The presence of God is within you. While I am here with you, you don’t sense the presence in you; you see it in me instead. But soon, I will not be with you as you know me now. It may seem like I am gone, but that is a false impression. I would never leave you! I will be present to you in the same way that God is present to me now. You sense this presence of God in me. Soon, you will know it in each other.

Holy Spirit is coming to you. I am telling you this now so that when that presence comes to you, when you are open enough to receive it, you won’t be afraid. Spirit is powerful, and outside of your control. But, you will recognize me in the presence of Spirit. You will trust that it is me. Open your hearts to the Holy Spirit who is me, who is the Beloved one, who is all the gift of peace you will ever need.

This is what I hear in what John has written about that final conversation.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.

This little verse has two parts. Let’s look at each separately. First, “Peace I give you.”
Peace. Just the word feels like an exhale of tension from my body. I love that word. Several streams flow into my connection with peace. I grew up in a pacifist tradition, so I learned early how strong one must be to believe in peace, to live one’s life in the pursuit of peace. I grew up in the 60’s and peace was a big theme among those I admired. In recent years, as I discovered the enneagram tool for understanding our personality, I find myself drawn to the 9, the “Peacemaker.” I want everyone to get along, to be understanding of the other and work together to achieve common purposes. Peace is hard work. I don’t have any delusions about that. And the word, “peace,” especially as it is used in the Bible, has become particularly powerful to me when I remember that it is a translation for the Hebrew word, “Shalom.”

How to we understand that word, “peace?” Too often, I think, we consign peace to a simple cessation of conflict. My personality style loves this part of it. I really just want everyone to stop arguing or fighting and get along. An end to violence is clearly a good thing. Few would argue with that value. Many of us have prayed for peace in the Middle East, peace in our community, perhaps even peace in our home. When General Assembly comes and gathers for worship and debate, peace will be front and center.

But I think the peace Jesus offers is more than the absence of something negative. The word “shalom,” helps me to understand that peace is its own thing. “Shalom” is the word Jesus would have used here. It is a presence of something, not just an absence of something. According to the website, My Jewish Learning, “The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, is derived from a root denoting wholeness or completeness, and its frame of reference throughout Jewish literature is bound up with the notion of shelemut, perfection. Its significance is thus not limited to the political domain -to the absence of war and enmity -or to the social- to the absence of quarrel and strife. It ranges over several spheres and can refer in different contexts to bounteous physical conditions, to a moral value, and, ultimately, to a cosmic principle and divine attribute. In the Bible, the word shalom is most commonly used to refer to a state of affairs, one of well being, tranquility, prosperity, and security, circumstances unblemished by any sort of defect. Shalom is a blessing, a manifestation of divine grace…. It signifies a state of prosperity, of blessed harmony.” [2]

We can recognize this sense from our own “gentile” experience as well. When someone reports feeling “at peace,” for instance, he or she is reporting more than an absence of conflict but instead is talking about an identifiable presence in spirit, a sense of wholeness, rightness, in one’s very being. Peace carries a sense of contentment, a sense that in this moment one is basking in God’s presence, God’s delight. This is far more than the absence of conflict!

And it is something which one can have even amid hardship, struggle, conflict, and disruption. That is why Jesus could talk about peace at the point of his greatest suffering. He was leaving his peace with the disciples. It was something real, a presence. And Jesus here identifies it with Holy Spirit.

So peace comes to us, as a gift of God, something we experience most deeply when we give up our sense of control. We remain engaged, but we know that in any outcome, we are in God’s heart. And that is enough. We place our loved ones, our fortunes, and our future in God’s hands. And God’s response is to give us peace, a peace that allows us to lift our gaze from its focus on troubles and see those around us as gifts of God worthy of our love and attention.

Which brings us to the second part of this verse: “I do not give to you as the world gives.” “That’s a relief,” you might say, “because the world doesn’t know much about giving.” Generosity does not get high praise in a world of competition and acquisitiveness. All too often, you see, the rules of the world are that you have to earn anything which is worthwhile, you need to look out for yourself, that there is simply not enough to go around, that one is in a constant competition with all others for scarce resources.

But Jesus gives differently than the world. Jesus gives freely, with abundance. There is no bottom of the well. Peace, gift of God, is never-ending, has no boundaries, is not subject to any laws of scarcity. It is always there. Always enough.

When we pass the peace, I wonder how often we really sense the depth of God’s gift of peace, the promise that no matter what happens, God will not abandon us but is always working for our good and through us for the good of our neighbor and world? How often do we feel caught up in and by God’s peace, the promise that God loves us more than anything and will hold onto us through all that may come? How often do we sense God’s deep purpose that we not only experience this peace but also share it with others?

The church is in hard times. I am not just talking about our congregation. The church as we know it, is going through excruciating changes. The world is giving us nothing to help us survive. Pray for the session and other leaders of the church, that the gift of God’s peace will overflow our spirits as we face the seeming enormity of the task of leading this church. Perhaps it is okay to acknowledge that we cannot fix it. God’s peace is always there for us. The wholeness and completeness of being in God’s hands will never, ever, ever leave us, though the world may pass away. God’s peace remains.

God’s peace isn’t something you can seek or grasp but only receive. Only as we release our grip on the many things we are trying to hold onto, do we discover open hands that can receive God’s gift of peace.

Open your hands. Those hands sitting in your lap. Open them. Bask for a moment in God’s peace, at your finger tips and in your heart. Breathe. Exhale the tension. Experience God’s presence.

As you go out today, I invite you to greet each other again, “May the peace of Christ be with you!”

[1] www.davidlose.net/2016/04/easter-6-c-peace-the-world-cannot-give/
[2] http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shalom/